


Anniversary, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-15
Updated: 2004-01-15
Packaged: 2019-05-15 15:09:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14792828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: This is the anniversary of the shooting. It switches back between present day and Josh's recovery last summer.





	1. Anniversary, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**The Anniversary**

**by:** Dee

**Character(s):** Josh, Donna  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Disclaimer:** They are not mine. They are Aaron's. Lucky him.  
**Summary:** Falls after "Trials and Kisses", "Deeper Than That" and "The Girl I Picked"  
**Author's Note:** This will be a series (I think) that begins with the staff getting ready to give their depositions. Babbish comes down a little hard on Donna  
**Feedback:** It's the other reason why we write. 

(Present) 

"No, take both of them of out," Donna instructed.

"Donna, what are you doing?" Josh asked walking into his office to find Larry and Ed removing his T.V.'s.

"We agreed, Josh. It's okay you can take them. Thanks."

"Is this really necessary?"

"We agreed. If you came into the office today then no television."

"Donna I had to come into the office. If I didn't people would think I was big sissy."

"Right. Because getting shot in the chest and recovering from that has got sissy stamped all over it."

"Yeah, I guess when you put it that way it makes me seem pretty manly. Hey, you want to see scar?" Josh wiggled his eyebrows comically, but Donna was having none of it.

"I've scheduled you inside the office today. You've got staff at 8:00, Basset, Michaelson, and Brenner after that ."

"Yeh, three more democrats to tell us why we shouldn't run."

"Then lunch. Then more strategy meetings with, Sam and Toby. Then tonight I've got a Meg Ryan double feature planned. Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail."

"They're girl movies."

"Right. No violence. No guns. No dying. Just happy endings for everyone."

"I don't want to watch girl movies."

"Josh you like Harry Met Sally. You know 'waiter I would like some pepper on my paprikash,'" she mimicked in a strange voice.

"Oh yeah. Okay but just don't tell anybody. Can I have one T.V.?"

"No. They're going to be playing footage all day long."

"Donna!"

"No.

"What if something important happens," Josh complained.

"Oh, I don't know. Do you think one of the 1100 hundred people working here might fill you in. I mean you are a pretty important person."

"I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff," he clarified.

"Yes, I know. And I'm the Deputy Deputy Chief of Staff. I'm rather important myself."

"You are that."

"I should get a raise."

"I'll take that under consideration."

"Seriously?" Donna asked.

"No."

"You're evil."

"I have a dark side. So when is staff?"

"In half an hour. Oh and your mother will be calling sometime today so be prepared to be interrupted." With that Donna left to fetch some coffee for herself. 

Leo popped his head in Josh's office. "You're here," he said.

"Yeah."

"Okay. You going to be all right?"

"I'm fine. But Donna's losing it. She took the T.V.s away."

"They're going to be playing footage. And you should go easy on her. It wasn't the easiest day in the world for her either."

That stopped Josh. He was so used to being the focus of the shooting he never really considered everyone else's perspective. "She never talks about it. I mean that night. She never talks about it."

Leo nodded as his own memories flooded back.

**********

_(Past)_

_"Leo," Abbey called to him._

_Leo stopped in his tracks. He had just gotten back from settling the crisis with Nancy and was looking for a little good news. Josh was supposed to be coming off the by-pass machine and he wanted to wait it out with the rest of the staff._

_"Abbey don't tell me..."_

_"No, there's still no word on Josh. Look, when you go in there I want you to talk to Donna."_

_"What's the matter?"_

_"Tell her to go home, Leo. She's been up all night. It's going on ten in the morning. I can't get her to rest or eat anything. She looks like she's about to collapse."_

_"I'll try, but she won't go."_

_"She'll listen to you."_

_"No, she won't. She won't leave him until she knows. She'll hold it together until then."_

_Leo entered the room. Sam and CJ were lying on chairs strung together. Toby sat in a chair resting his feet on another one in front of him. Donna sat upright in the center of the room staring out into space. It was the exact position he'd left her in when he left for the White House._

_"Hey, Donna."_

_She looked up but he could see her eyes were glassed over in a sort of haze. Abbey was right._

_"Why don't you go home, Donna. Josh is going to be fine and you're going to want to get some rest before you see him."_

_She looked at him, but said nothing._

_He tried again. "I'm ordering you to go home, Donna."_

_"I quit," she whispered then went back to staring at the wall._

_He sat down next to her and simply took her hand. "He's going to make it."_

_"I should have been there," she whispered to no one in particular. "I should have been there."_

*******

(Present)

"I mean it, Josh," Leo said trying to block the image of Donna's face that night from his mind. "Tread lightly."

"Don't I always?" he smirked.

"Is that supposed to be funny."

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't."

"Tough crowd today," Josh muttered to himself.

**Sequel: "Something Stupid"**


	2. Anniversary, The 2

**The Anniversary**

**by:** Dee 

**Character(s):** Josh, Donna  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Disclaimer:** They are not mine. They are Aaron's. Lucky him.  
**Summary:** Falls after "Trials and Kisses", "Deeper Than That" and "The Girl I Picked"  
**Author's Note:** This will be a series (I think) that begins with the staff getting ready to give their depositions. Babbish comes down a little hard on Donna  
**Feedback:** It's the other reason why we write. 

(Present) 

"Josh what are you doing, you should have been in there ten minutes ago," Donna reprimanded him.

"I'm going right now," he said gathering up a few things he wanted to address at the meeting. As he left the office Donna watched him swagger down the hallway checking to see he didn't veer off towards the communications bull pen. She asked them to turn off all their T.V sets for the day, but considering it was the communications center they said no.

"Hey Donna. I'm going to the mess you want something to eat?" Carol asked coming up behind her.

Donna looked at Carol and suddenly she felt as if she were a million miles away.

********

_(Past)_

_"You have to eat." Donna stood by the hospital bed while she set up his bed stand. Dinner was coming any minute and he was already groaning about it._

_"I don't like the food," he whined._

_"Tough."_

_"That's the best you can do? Tough? That's pretty lame, Donna."_

_"Look, Josh. I'm not going through this again. You have to eat in order for you to get your strength back up or you will never get out of this bed."_

_"It's not so bad now."_

_"Josh," she sighed._

_"No seriously. I've gotten used to it. Even the bars. And it's got this cool remote control thing."_

_"Josh."_

_"And it's got wheels. Maybe you could, you know, just wheel me around the West Wing and I can stay in bed."_

_"If you don't eat I'm going to sick Bubba on you again," Donna threatened._

_Josh had refused his first few meals of soup and pudding on the grounds it was inedible. Donna resorted to calling in the Hospital Food Worker, a three hundred pound six-foot black woman that went by the name of Bubba, who explained to Josh the merrits of her cooking. He's eaten most of his meals since._

_"Okay now you're getting nasty."_

_"Good evening, Mr. Lyman!" A peppy nurse wheeled in a tray for him._

_"Which one is she?" Josh asked Donna._

_"That's Susan. She's relatively new."_

_"But she knows about the pudding."_

_"Yes, I told her."_

_"Here you go," the nurse said placing the tray on the bed stand. "Now, eat up. Its yummy."_

_"It's crap," Josh corrected her._

_"Josh," Donna warned then mouthed the world "Bubba."_

_"Okay, okay." Josh lifted the cover off the tray and looked at the pudding. "That's rice pudding."_

_"Yes," Susan said. "Its really wonderful."_

_Josh looked at Donna. "I'm not eating that pudding." He then dismissed it and set about picking through the rest of his food._

_Donna took the pudding off the tray. "Excuse me, Nurse Susan, can I see you outside?"_

_"Of course, dear."_

_Donna got the nurse outside the door. "Listen to me," she began in a very low very threatening tone. "I have told you and several other members of this hospital staff that he only likes chocolate pudding."_

_"Yes, dear but I couldn't find any so..."_

_"No," she said abrublty cutting her off. "He only likes chocolate pudding. He is very picky about what he eats. It is very hard to get him to eat anything at all, so it's important that he gets what he likes. He likes chocolate pudding. He doesn't like rice pudding."_

_"I understand that, dear, but..."_

_"No, buts. Do you know who he is? He's the Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States of America and he was shot. Do you understand that? Do you understand that he almost died for his country. I think that entitles him to some goddammned chocolate pudding!"_

_"You need to calm down, dear."_

_"I do not need to calm down," Donna shouted. "And if you call me dear one more time I'm going to take this rice pudding and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Now you go back downstairs to your kitchen and you get me some chocolate pudding! Now!"_

_The nurse, almost in tears, turned on her heels and left. Donna tossed the pudding into a near by trash can._

_"Donna?"_

_Donna flinched. She turned around to find Sam "Hi, Sam."_

_He stepped forward cautiously. "Are you okay?"_

_"Of course," she lied._

_"It's just... I've never seen...Maybe you need to go home. Get a little rest."_

_Donna tried to hold in her anger. Yeah, like she would leave him. Why didn't people get it. Why was it so hard to make people understand that she wasn't going to leave him. That she would never leave him again. "It was just a rough day. That's all. He'll be glad to see you."_

_"Donna, I'm serious. I think you should..."_

_"Don't say it." She walked up to him and stood nearly eye to eye with him. "And whatever you do, don't you dare say it in front of him. I need to go back. Are you coming?"_

_"Yeah."_

_The two entered Josh's room and he looked up from his dinner with a smile. "Hey Sam, you missed it. Donna just opened a can of whoop ass on the nurse."_

_"I heard it," he said somberly. "I heard it."_

*********** 

(Present)

"Donna. Donna?" Sam moved into the bull pen behind her. "Donna," he said more forcefully.

She jumped and turned to find him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking."

He smiled, "Pretty deep thoughts."

"Sure.".

"I just wanted to tell you Josh is in with Leo. So he's going to be a little late for Bassett."

"Right."

Sam was about to leave, but stopped himself. "Hey, you okay?"

"Of course," she lied.


	3. Anniversary, The 3

**The Anniversary**

**by:** Dee

**Character(s):** Josh, Donna  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Disclaimer:** They are not mine. They are Aaron's. Lucky him.  
**Summary:** Falls after "Trials and Kisses", "Deeper Than That" and "The Girl I Picked"  
**Author's Note:** This will be a series (I think) that begins with the staff getting ready to give their depositions. Babbish comes down a little hard on Donna  
**Feedback:** It's the other reason why we write. 

* * *

(Present) 

"Josh Lyman's office," Donna answered the phone.

"Hello Donna," said an older woman.

Immediately, Donna smiled. "Hi, Mrs.Lyman."

"Donna, when are you going to start calling me mom?"

It was an old game between them. Donna understood what Mrs. Lyman was hinting at, but always chose to shrug it off. "I can't do that. If I called you mom, you would start telling me I'm too thin and I wear all the wrong colored clothes."

Ruth Lyman chuckled into the phone. "I wouldn't I swear. So tell me how the State Dinner went. I saw a picture in George. You looked fabulous."

"Please don't bring that up with him, he's still grumbling about the dress."

"Well, he shouldn't have the cut the price tag off."

"That's what I keep telling him."

"Either that or he should give you a raise so you can buy the dress yourself."

"I keep telling him that too."

"So how is he?"

"He's good," Donna said. "His blood pressure was a little high last week, so I've got him on a strict no pizza or french fries diet for the next two weeks. His leg and shoulder mostly only bother him when it rains now. He's even jogging a little. But I won't let him take a meeting with Hoynes quite yet."

"And how is he?"

Donna smiled into the phone. There was no getting around a mother's intuition and Mrs. Lyman's was spookier than most. "He's okay. He's not sleeping as much as I ... I try to make sure he gets at least three or four hours a night. Most of them he spends in the basement downstairs on a couch. But he seems to be handling the stress of everything all right. He's acting like today is no big deal at all."

"But we know better," the older woman replied gently. 

"Yes," Donna whispered.

**********

_(Past)_

_"But I don't think I should..." Donna held the cell phone pressed to her ear. "Yes, Mrs. Lyman, I understand. But I don't want to... No. No. Okay. I've got it. 5:15. Flight 543."_

_Leo walked up to where Donna was in the hospital lobby. "That was Ruth?"_

_"Yes. She's landing now. It was the first flight she could get on. Can you imagine that? Her son was ... I mean he could have... and they wouldn't let her on flight until this afternoon."_

_"I'll send a car around for her. National, right?"_

_"No, she wants me to pick her up."_

_"Donna, you're in no condition..."_

_"I'll get someone else to drive. I just meant she doesn't want to have strangers meeting her at the airport. She wants me."_

_"I didn't know you knew Ruth."_

_Donna smiled a little at that. "I don't. I mean we've never met face to face. We've just ... talked. We talk once a week. She asks me how he is. I told her once she should probably ask Josh. I was mad at him that day for something, I don't remember what. She said I know how he's doing better than he does. What do you think she meant by that, Leo?"_

_Leo chose not to answer. "If you've never met face to face, how are you going to know who she is?"_

_"She has my picture. There was a picture taken of me and Josh and the Innagural Ball. She clipped it out of a magazine and framed it. I really don't know why. It's not a very good picture of Josh. He's got this stupid look on his face."_

_"You should leave. Traffic is bad at this time of day."_

_Donna started to walk away, then stopped._

_"What is it?"_

_"I don't want to leave him."_

_"Donna, he's out cold. They've got him pumped so full of drugs he probably won't surface again until morning. You can see him then."_

_"But what if I leave and something happens," she said in a small voice._

_"Nothing's going to happen. He's stable."_

_Donna shook her head. "I should have been there. Maybe if I'd been there..."_

_"Don't talk that way," Leo told her. "Sometimes .... shit just happens."_

_Donna nodded but didn't agree. "I have to go. Promise me, if he does wake up, you won't tell him I've left. Tell him they won't let me see him. Tell him that."_

_"He's not going to wake up tonight."_

_"Please Leo, promise me. Just in case."_

_"Okay."_

_At the airport terminal, Donna realized that pictures were entirely unnecessary. She recognzied Mrs. Lyman and Mrs. Lyman recognized her immediately. They were the only two women in the terminal who were crying._

*******

(Present)

"Hold on, Mrs. Lyman. I'll go let Josh know you're on the phone."

Donna knocked on his office door interupting his current meeting. "I'm sorry, Congressman. Josh that's your mother on line one. Congressman, if you wouldn't mind I'll show you to the lobby for a just a few minutes."

Brenner stood up a little confused but left the office.

"Way to go Donna. I was just about to open a can of whoopass on his... ass...and you tell him my mommy is on the phone. Yet again, you've made me look like a big sissy boy."

"Okay, I'll just tell your mother you don't want to talk to her right now."

"What are you crazy? She'll kill me. Line one, right?"


	4. Anniversary, The 4

**The Anniversary**

**by:** Dee 

**Character(s):** Josh, Donna  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Rating:** MATURE  
**Disclaimer:** They are not mine. They are Aaron's. Lucky him.  
**Summary:** Falls after "Trials and Kisses", "Deeper Than That" and "The Girl I Picked"  
**Author's Note:** This will be a series (I think) that begins with the staff getting ready to give their depositions. Babbish comes down a little hard on Donna  
**Feedback:** It's the other reason why we write. 

(Present) 

"I think we should consider it," CJ said. 

Sam and CJ were standing in Toby's office while he paced back and forth in front of him.

"A year ago we said no interviews," Toby countered.

"A year ago we didn't know the president had MS," Sam replied.

"Sam's right, Toby. It would be big news because Josh has never talked about his experierence on television. With the anniversary today, we could get all the networks to pick it up and air it sometime this week."

"And now there's accompanying footage," Sam interjected.

CJ nodded. "It will remind people that the President was also shot and recovered. It will remind people that he's a very strong man. A bullet didn't get him and neither will this."

"Which is exactly what we need right now," Sam finished.

"Excuse me?"

The three turned to find Donna standing in the doorway. "I came to let you know Josh is running behind but I couldn't help over hear what you were talking about. I'm sorry CJ, but are you crazy?"

CJ sighed, "Donna.."

"No, I mean I think, I could be wrong, but I think you're saying you want Josh to go T.V. and talk about the shooting. Is that what you're saying?"

"Donna it would be handled very carefully," Sam insisted.

"Carefully? They are going to ask him what it felt like to be shot? Can you do that carefully?"

"Calm down, Donna," Toby told her.

"No," she said rejecting his words. "You know what could happen. He could start talking about it, he could have a panic attack on T.V. Everyone would see it."

"Josh has been fine these last few months," CJ said. 

Donna just shook her head. "I can't believe you would do that to him. I can't believe you would make him relive that for some political payoff. You have no idea what it was like.."

"Hey, we were there," Toby told her a bit harshly.

"No you weren't," she accused him. "You weren't there, Toby! None of you were. He sat for what was it fifteen, twenty minutes, bleeding, dying, and none of you even looked for him! You didn't care where he was. He sat there for... he was alone...If I had been there I would have looked for him. I would have been next to him."

"Donna." Toby tried to reach out to her but she pulled away from them all.

She laughed harshly the tears now streaming down her face. "You were there? You weren't there. You all came and went that night. You didn't stay." She pointed at Sam. "You visited. You played chess. You sent pajamas," she said pointing at CJ. Then to Toby, "And you, you couldn't even look at him when he had the tube in his chest. You were there? No you weren't. None of you were there when he threw up his food for two days straight. None of you were there when he had to learn how to walk again, when he fell. None of you were there when the pain was so bad... it got so bad for him. And then the nightmares came and he couldn't sleep....I was there. You weren't there."

"Donna?"

She turned at the voice from behind her. Josh stood in the doorway wearing a shocked expression. 

"I...." she began, but she couldn't seem to catch her breath to form any words. She threw her hand over her mouth and pushed by him as she ran out the door. 

Josh turned to back to group. "What did you say to her?"

CJ hung her head. "Holy hell."

"We didn't know," Sam said. "We should have known, but we didn't."

"We were talking about the possibility of you doing an interview," Toby finally said. "For the record Donna is not crazy about the idea."

"I'm going to go find her and attempt to apologize," CJ announced.

"No," Josh said. "I'll find her. I'll talk to her."

"She's right," Toby admitted. "None of us could handle it. We couldn't handle you... not being you. We weren't there for you. Not really."

"You didn't need to be, Toby. I had her." 

Josh started to leave then turned to CJ. "Where does a girl go to hide when she's crying?"

"The bathroom," CJ informed him. 

Josh nodded and headed in the direction of the womens' restroom. Ginger was just coming out when he got there.

"She wants to be alone, Josh."

"Yeah. Is there anybody else in there?"

"No."

"Okay, could you give us a few minutes."

"Sure."

Cautiously, just in case there was someone still left in the bathroom he walked inside. He heard Donna sniffling in the last stall. "Donna, come out and talk to me."

Donna sighed. "Go away, Josh."

"No."

"You realize that you're in the ladies room."

"Just one more dent in my manly image for the day. It ranks somewhere between the girly movies and the call from my mother."

"I'm not coming out."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere which means we're in a stalemate. And let me tell you Donna I think I have the upper hand here, because you're eventually going to need to use the facilities and we both know you're not going to do that with me in here."

"I can hold it."

Great. Josh walked up and turned on the facet letting the water run into the sink.

"Josh! That's not fair."

"I told you about my dark side. Geez, look at his stuff. You guys have colored smelly soaps and everything. I can tell you that's something we don't have in the mens room. And the towel dispensers are like totally full. I'm going to lodge a formal complaint."

The stall door opened.

The sight of her red eyes and nose almost broke his heart. He pulled out a towel from the dispenser and handed to her.

She dropped the rumpled toilet paper she was holding and blew her nose. "Is everybody really mad?"

"No."

"I yelled at them, Josh."

"Yeah, you sounded a little bit like Toby."

Donna closed her eyes in resignation. "I have to go apologize."

"We're not in a hurry. They'll be there. So you don't want me to do an interview."

She shook her head.

"I'm a lot better now, Donna. I can talk about it without reliving it. What I didn't realize was that you needed to talk about it too."

"I don't need to talk about it. I wasn't the one who got shot."

"But you were there. Every day. Every night. More than anyone else you were there."

"But I wasn't there that night," she said quietly.

"Is that what this about?"

"I should have been there. I would have been right next to you. You wouldn't have been alone."

"Donna," Josh began as he moved closer to her and took her face in his hands. "I don't have a lot of fond memories of that night, but the one thing I am grateful for every day is that you weren't there because you would have been right next to me. If I let myself think about what might have happened if you were there that night, I go a little crazy."

"Really?"

"Well, not as crazy as you just went upstairs..."

"Josh," she groaned. "It's not funny."

Josh smiled. "It's a little funny. You yelled at Toby. I don't think anybody has ever done that and lived."

"I have to go apologize," she insisted, but Josh enclosed her in his arms.

She held on to him and thought how long it had been since she'd been held by a man as if he didn't want to let her go. She wanted to stay here forever, she thought. Then she remembered it as the women's restroom. Reluctantly, she pulled away and gave him a tentative smile.

"Have I ever said thank you," he asked when she reached the door.

"You understand why you don't have to. Right?"

He looked at her intently and knew what was trying to say. He nodded and met her at the door taking her hand. "Come on. Hey, before you apologize could you maybe yell at Toby some more. This time I want to watch."

"Josh."

"Come on, maybe a slap or two!"

"Josh."

The End

**Sequel: "Something Stupid"**


End file.
